Baldur's Gate: the Sword Coast Chronicles (BGTSCC) has become one of the largest NWN2 servers around, with a relatively large number of players all sharing the Persistent World, together, as a community. In order to keep things running smoothly and fair for everyone, please be aware of our rules.

Ignorance of the Rules is no excuse for breaking them. It is your responsibility to read and understand them when you play on this server.

The main rule is to be respectful of other Players, and remember that it's just a game. This is the guideline with which to approach all other rules.

– Roleplay– This is a Role-play Server set in the Forgotten Realms campaign world. Please respect the setting and stay in-character (IC). You can go out-of-character (OOC) if there is need for clarifications, or if you wouldn't be disturbing role-play around you by doing so (please mark your OOC speech by placing either (( , // or ooc: before or behind it). Do not talk OOC in Party Chat mode, unless a DM has approved such. Party Chat is a tool reserved for DM Events, not to be used to communicate "secretly" between groups, where in-character your PC would otherwise have to talk out loud, or could not communicate over distances.

– Content = Teen– The Server, Forum and all interactions are to be rated Teen. Sexual encounters, graphic or extended nudity, gratuitous violence and torture, ERP (Erotic Role Play), and especially rape are strictly prohibited. Pregnancies are forbidden unless directly supervised by a DM, resulting from DM-authorized Role-play. Miscarriages are strictly prohibited. Pregnancies are a form of "retiring" a PC for the duration, and resulting children are NOT to be Role-played. Any caught violating this rule are subject to being permanently banned. All Player Characters (PCs) must be created and Role-played with the minimum age of 18, for Human, and the equivalent for all other races.

– "Play Your Sheet"– You are required to play what is on your Character Sheet. For example, no role-playing of another Race if it does not appear on your Character Sheet. In-character (IC) lying and misinformation about your Character's skills, profession and morality is fair and acceptable, but Role-play which does not reflect the Abilities, Feats and Skills that exist on your Character Sheet, is not acceptable.

– Three By 20– 3 Levels of Each Class at Level 20 (3b20) Rule: A PC (the build plan) must have 3 levels in every class at level 20 (example of a build's class level distribution at the 20th character level: 17/3 or 14/3/3/ or 11/3/3/3). Prestige classes are included in this rule. So for example, a Rogue 12/Wizard 5/Arcane Trickster 3 is okay. A Rogue 13/Wizard 5/ Arcane Trickster 2 is not. Failure to observe this rule will result in the de-leveling of your PC to a legal state with NO XP refund!

– Custom Changes– Read Custom Changes to this World to understand which game mechanics have been changed, and that may have an impact on your character concept (or Build). Our Custom Changes DO NOT always match the NWN2DB.com build website. Players have a responsibility for their own builds and being aware of custom changes to the world, and these rules.

– Naming Rules– Please do not use famous names (like "Robin Hood" or "Drizzt Do'Urden") for your character. Do not put any titles in your name or biography that you did not earn. You are not a king, noble, general, baron, etc. unless the DMs grant your PC that title. And finally, please use a name rather than a description (no "Big Man" or "Larry the Wizard") for your character. A character in violation of this rule may log in to find the character with a new name.

– Skill Rolls Between Players– Skill rolls may be used as guidelines in RP. However, a player is not required to follow any Skill rolls unless a DM enforces it. Only a DM may enforce skill rolls.

– PVP Rules– PvP rules can be found here or in the book that is in inventory of your character.

– No Metagaming!

"Metagaming" is the use of knowledge not lawfully gained by a character in game. -> Such as but not limited to the following examples:

1. Using the name over someones head as a name tag, until you meet that person in character, you do not know their name. 2. Sending a tell to a friend who was not with you at the time of your death, to come to your location and raise you from the dead. 3. Using information that you learned on character 1, and playing character 2 and using said information not lawfully gained on character 2. 4. Do not use the NWN2 game mechanics to assume things your character would not otherwise know by their skills alone (i.e. saves on an aura, or seeing a spell cast).

- No Godmodding NPCs!"God Modding" is when someone’s Character (PC) has the ability to do practically anything without limits or boundaries. And example is when a PC simply cannot be harmed by any means, or ignores NPCs that would otherwise take action against the Character if a DM was overseeing the Roleplay situation. In addition, Players are not to control or speak for or direct actions of other NPCs, especially such NPCs that do not exist in this NWN2 game. Minor instances of NPC interactions may be used, such as and for example: "The merchant said they would spread the rumor I was seeking a special item."

Examples of either of the above will lead to serious consequences for your PC, and possibly a temporary ban of your Player account.

Hostile acts against NPCs will be treated in the same manner as PVP against PCs in front of NPCs - namely, permastrikes may well be handed out.

Sneaking in to player guild halls is forbidden without DM consent in advance, and will be treated as godmoding without it. In addition, DM supervision of the actual IG sneaking is required. Players sneaking in should expect significant risk (including permastrikes (Permastirke Rules: http://www.bgtscc1.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=25355)), and that a fair chance will be given to the defending guild to account for timezones and the like.

– Surface/UD Travel!-You can be on the other side, but have some roleplay reason to be there (not just an excuse to grind or PvP). Stating that you are there to defeat such and such creature, or to test your skill is not a valid RP reason, that is grinding. We also do not consider general exploration, or Drow raids on the surface as a valid RP reason, although such can be fodder for DM moderated events. Please PM the team regarding this.

Valid RP reasons outside of the above are defined widely and do not require prior DM approval. Examples include meeting another PC to trade, or to RP over religion, or to establish contacts with another guild. We would ask however that you are able to state your reasons when a DM asks and abide by any decision that is made. Please note that it is not valid to grind once the reasons for travelling to the surface or underdark are complete. Stating that you are meeting a PC in Sshamath to acquire via trade rare and valuable items is a valid reason but grinding afterwards with your trading partner is still grinding.

The barrier between the Surface and UD is the Netherese Ruins. Those caught grinding on the opposite side of the Ruins from where they belong will be penalized from 1+ levels to being banned from the server.

Surfacers in the Underdark and Underdark-based characters on the Surface are consenting to certain criteria and vulnerabilities:- You cannot grind monsters for experience- You cannot search for loot (exploring dungeons for treasure, picking at gold piles, etc)- You may not run quests- If slain in PvP, you may be issued a permastrike. Your character can afford three permastrikes (Permastrike rules: http://www.bgtscc1.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=25355)

The intent of this is to allow opportunity for ROLEPLAY and this is why we define RP reasons widely. It is not an opportunity to exploit different areas for their resources. The server is designed to allow both sides their share of quests, monsters and dungeons. Taking advantage of both sides is against the intent of our area builders and server design.

We also ask that players are respectful of the setting given the leniency of these rules. On the surface NPCs should be regarded as universally hostile to Underdark PCs and so maps with NPCs should be avoided where possible without DM supervision. In the Underdark, the peculiarities of Sshamath's lore should be respected and the Underdark itself should be considered a dangerous and hostile place. While we wish to facilitate roleplay between surface and Underdark we do not want to erode the setting and so may intervene in RP that is immersion breaking.

The DM team reminds Drow race players that Drow races would feel rather out of place on the surface in many respects even beyond just surface race hostility to them. We ask for the sake of proper lore immersion relating the race on the surface for Drow on the surface to be RPed as such. For example, Drow not living on the surface for a long period of time would have a strong negative physiological reaction to sunlight and other bright sources of light, and open spaces.

We note that the same goes for those visiting the Underdark. Lorewise these caverns are a dangerous, dark and confusing warren and we would ask players to observe their character's limitations as well as RPing around the hazard that travel through the Underdark would represent.

– AFK Grinding– AFK grinding is illegal. As discussed in this post here: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=25385Doing so will result in either de-leveling of your PC, or more severe penalties. There is no rule against speed leveling. We ask Players to be considerate to others and NOT "grind" or "camp" an area for several hours, and by doing so, not giving others a chance to adventure in this area as well.

The AFK grinding rules also apply to using automated techniques for fishing or emoting while AFK. Those found to be doing so shall receive the same treatment as those who AFK grind.

– No Metagame Looting- In addition, no meta-game looting. This includes camping at a treasure chest location waiting for resets, locating a character at chests and logging in and out every so often to loot them, etc..Players may not use invisibility, stealth, or any other means of avoiding detection in order to loot chests and drops in a dungeon already occupied by anyone else. It is the responsibility of the hidden looter to ensure they do not jump ahead of others working their way through a dungeon. In general, if a dungeon/Area/Map is already occupied by another Player(s), use in-character actions to acknowledge moving ahead of those already occupying the Area. Skipping ahead of other Player(s) without recognizing their presence, is bad form, and could create in-character repercussions (such as being labeled a "thief'). If there is an OOC reason to be moving ahead of another Player(s), it is your responsibility to communicate that appropriately. Dungeons may extend through several maps, and would include the entire collection of maps with a similar theme and creatures. Retaliatory PvP action for getting "skipped" by another Player(s) is not legal, unless actually Role-played and follows the Server PvP Rules.

– Griefing– Do not grief, as in attacking someone over and over, or, after having been beaten in a duel, get back up rebuff and attack again. Do not use summons which can be sent hostile, such as the warlock's fiendish summon, to circumvent PVP rules. If you are proven to be acting like this, you will be warned and/or removed from the Server. Do not harass anyone OOC. If you are proven to be doing this, you will be booted and/or banned. Being intentionally disruptive to the Player-base is subject to permanent ban from the Server.

– Exploits– No using known or unknown exploits or illegal haks. Absolutely no exceptions. Any exploits that are seen being used by Players will be accompanied by consequences such as lost XP/levels and/or possible booting or banning. Chances are if it seems like an exploit it probably is. For example, casting from the Quickcast GUI while shape-shifted is a known exploit and should not be done (only druids with Natural Spell should be able to cast while in their class wild shapes).

– Overrides– Only GUI Overrides and Texture Improvement Overrides are allowed on BGTSCC. Please clear your override folder before you log on the server.

– No Rebuilds– No Character Rebuilds unless under rare circumstances (corrupted bic, etc.). This includes feat swaps. It is up to you to make sure you build the right Character. De-levels are permitted. No refunds for reset and crash deaths; no refunds for bugged bodies.

– Character Rollbacks– Character and vault rollbacks will only be issued to you if your character file has been corrupted by the server, a significant problem has resulted from the actions of server staff or server content, or your character files have been archived after several years of inactivity and you would like them restored.

– Cleric Domains– If you would like to play a Cleric or any other divine caster class, including Stormlord, (with the exception of nature-based ones), please read the forums rules about domains here.

– Use of Hostile Function– Please try to avoid setting the entire server to hostile.

– Trash– Pick up all loot dropped as a result of your adventuring. Leaving loot bags on the ground reduces the server's performance, as well as Rude Behavior, so we ask kindly that you pick up after yourself. If you do not want something that drops, create a campfire and dispose of it that way. Remove campfires with the "Remove" button in your PC Tools.

– Public Personal Attacks– If you have a problem with any Player or any DM or are subject to any breaches of the rules by another Player, do not post it publicly on the Forums. Instead, send a PM with linked screenshots (if available) to the DM group via Private Messaging available on this Forum. It is much harder for the DM team to take action without the evidence of screenshots.

We keep hearing rumours about PvP bullying and that nothing is being done about it. Unfortunately, the way rule enforcement works, we can't actually do anything unless we are given reports (PMs) with evidence (screenshots). And if we give a warning to someone and then they keep doing what they were warned about, we need yet more reports to know that they haven't improved and so we can act with more severe punishments.

The bottom line is, we read your reports, but need to actually get your reports.

For this reason I have edited the rules to make clear the proper way to report rules breaches is by way of a screenshot PMed to the whole DM team.

16/02/16 Rules update: - Some formatting- Emphasis on Rule No 1, respect for other players.- Amendment to Godmoding rules regarding infiltration of Guildhalls.- Clarification that players are responsible for their builds vis a vis custom changes and rules.